Wind Energy offers a Multitude of Opportunities for Japanese Corporations

Randers, Denmark | June 20, 2013

Wind, an independent and safe source of energy that can help Japan and its corporations in addressing some of the challenges pressing the businesses in today’s Japan: to reduce the cost of energy consumption and to continuously attract the carbon-conscious global consumer.

Today, Vestas Wind Systems, the global leader in wind energy solutions is in Tokyo presenting the most recent findings in two global studies on renewable energy as part of the global Energy Transparency Campaign which aims at informing and creating transparency about consumer behaviours and corporate energy usage. The Global Consumer Wind Study is shedding light on consumer preferences vis-à-vis renewable energy, whereas the Corporate Renewable Energy Index is establishing more transparency on corporations’ energy consumption, which the former study shows is a missing piece of information, when consumers are making buying-decisions.

At the launch event, Morten Albæk, Chief Marketing Officer at Vestas says, “There are two elements that are decisive for corporations’ success: The customers, in this case consumers and the costs. Consumers globally have become more conscious about choosing products and services that are produced sustainably. They want to be able to make informed decisions and want to know what type of energy has gone into producing the product they are purchasing.”

64 per cent of the Japanese respondents in the Global Consumer Wind Study expressed that they are inadequately informed about the energy that is used to manufacture the products they purchase.

“That is why we present this information to the consumers through the Corporate Renewable Energy Index,” Morten Albæk continues. “Given the absolute amount of energy the corporations consume, they play a pivotal role in contributing to a global transformation to a more sustainable energy mix, and they are supported by their most important stakeholders, namely their customers.”

At the same time, increasing the proportion of renewable energy the corporations consume is an avenue to hedge against the price fluctuations which conventional fossil fuels are subjected to. With soaring energy costs for Japanese corporations operating domestically, wind energy presents a predictable and rewarding energy solution, which can help corporations keep costs down*, while also contributing to the efforts of transforming Japan’s and the world’s energy mix to a more sustainable one. With a feed-in tariff for wind energy standing at 23.1 JPY/kWh, Japan is currently offering some of the most attractive support schemes for wind in the world.

(*Calculations by The Institute of Energy Economics, Japan (from May 2012) show a levelised cost of energy (cost per kWh over the lifetime of a power project) for wind to be as low as 10 JPY/kWh, outperforming conventional fossil fuels.

Every single day, Vestas wind turbines deliver clean energy that supports the global fight against climate change. Wind power from Vestas’ around 49,000 wind turbines currently reduces carbon emissions by over 60 million tons of CO2 every year, while at the same time building energy security and independence.

Today, Vestas has delivered wind energy in 73 countries, providing jobs for around 18,000 passionate people at our service and project sites, research facilities, factories and offices all over the world. With 62 per cent more megawatts installed than our closest competitor and more than 55 GW of cumulative installed capacity worldwide, Vestas is the world leader in wind energy.

We invite you to learn more about Vestas by visiting our website at www.vestas.com